final paper

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INTL – I400 Capstone Thesis Spring 2014
The Triangle of Death: Tainted Earth, Corruption, and Organized Crime in Southern Italy
Gregory M. Baumel
Instructor: Ron Sela
Mentor: Carl Ipsen

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Executive Summary
The Italian region of Campania has for many years, faced a unique public health
and environmental crisis. Illicit toxic waste dumping by the Neapolitan organized crime
syndicate, the Camorra, has ruined land and is widely believed to be responsible for
isolated increases in a host of cancers and congenital abnormalities in Campania. The aim
of this paper is to demonstrate that this issue has no singular causation; rather, it is a
confluence of exacerbating factors. Corrupt political procedure, incompetent public
administration, and criminal entrepreneurship overlap as to contribute to the consequence
of tainted environments and public health hazards.
The factors that precipitated this crisis have allowed the Camorra to flourish and
the lucrative business of illegally disposing of toxic waste has boomed. In fact, the
problem has become so great, the Italian government has deployed army units to patrol
the region to prevent further dumping. Assuming authorities can control the problem,
they must take steps to remedy the environment, those affected, and clean up a system
that allows the Camorra to exert political influence.
The general environment of Southern Italy has made it conducive for people to
venture into criminal entrepreneurship. Its poorer socioeconomic status, relative to the
north, is undoubtedly an exacerbating factor. Many steps, large and small, can be used to
ameliorate the crisis and the general condition of the region as a whole. Better technology
in the waste industry can improve longevity of landfills and government reclamation of
toxic sites to be used as landfills, offer remedies to the issue. Providing the right kind of
care to those who have suffered adverse health effects is paramount, as toxicity levels
will continue to affect the public for the foreseeable future. Finally, cleaning up the

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political climate and public sector and avoiding mafia influence on politicians and
businesses will stem the activities of the Camorra significantly.
Introduction
A Brief History of the Waste Crisis in Campania
The waste management crisis currently affecting the Campania is the result of a
confluence of factors. The first is the corrupt waste management practices, which are
enabled by the use of subcontracts to private consortiums.1 The police lack of power to
enforce the rule of law and the illegal waste management market still thrives. This illicit
business started several decades ago when harmful toxic waste produced by northern
Italian industries was brought to the south.2
According to Greyl et al., the genesis of this extraordinarily convoluted issue, is a
meeting that took place between politicians of the Liberal Party, members of the
Freemasonry, and heads of the Casalesi clan of the Camorra in the province of Caserta.
During this assembly, the different parties sketched out the respective roles they would
play in the illicit business of toxic waste dumping and the compensation they would
receive from it.3 The next step was crucial, as the Freemasonry acted as intermediaries
between industrialists from northern Italy who were seeking a below-market alternative
to dispose of their waste.4 The Casalesi would provide transport via a transportation
1 (Greyl et al. May 2010)
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.

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company they owned5, and the Liberal Party’s Regional Councillor of Ecology, Raffaele
Perrone Capano, sanctioned the deal.6
Initially, the Camorra would transport urban and toxic waste and dump it in
landfills, but as the market grew, the logistics became even more complex. Currently,
waste is transported to Campania, and within the region, transits multiple storage sites.7
Only after this process is the waste be buried or dumped on land or in a waterway.8 Waste
is never actually treated in practice-only on paper for official purposes.9
To this day, all efforts to stop the traffic of toxic waste have failed. In February of
1993, the first Regional Waste Management Plan was authorized to reduce use of
landfills by 50% but this did little to impede landfills from reaching capacity.10 The Next
year the government declared an official state of emergency, which lasted until 2008, and
in January, 2014, dispatched army troops to Campania to conduct patrols in order to curb
illicit dumping.
The Triangle of Death
The ‘triangle of death’ is an area within the Italian province of Campania, which
comprises the municipalities of Acerra, Nola, and Marigliano. The term was first coined
by an article published in 2004 in the British medical journal, the Lancet Oncology,
which explored the possible link between illegal toxic waste dumping and elevated rates
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.

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of cancers and other congenital malformations in the region. From 1994 to early 2008,
the region of Campania in southern Italy existed under a formal state of emergency,
declared due to the dearth of facilities and to handle and treat waste, and the ensuing
buildup of garbage in the streets. There is a growing body of evidence that this condition
is largely responsible for a burgeoning health crisis and the contamination of soil, water
and air in the region. A high correlation between incidences of cancer, genetic
malformations, and respiratory illnesses and the presence of industrial and toxic waste
has also been found. Illegal dumping of toxic and industrial waste in areas north of the
province of Naples and south of the province of Caserta by the organized crime
syndicate, the Camorra, is widely believed to be the cause.
A Brief History of the Camorra
The history of the Camorra dates back to the 18th century, and diverges from the
vertical, or pyramid-like, structure that is characteristic of the much more commonly
known Sicilian mafia, or, Cosa Nostra.11 The Camorra operates within a horizontal
structure, which allows clans to operate independently of each other.12 The Camorra is
also unique in that they have a strong influence on Italian politics, and, in turn, the
communities in which they have a financial interest. Camorra clans have become skilled
intermediaries between local politicians and public officials, using their financial means
11 Peluso, Pasquale. “The Roots of the Organized Criminal Underworld in Campania.” Sociology &
Anthropology.no.2 (2013): 118-134. 10.13189/sa.2013.010211.
12 Paolo Pinotti, Organized Crime, Violence and the Quality of Politicians:Evidence from Southern Italy.
(working paper., Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, 2012), The Social Science Research Network
Electronic Paper Collection (2144121 ), http://www.linkiesta.it/sites/default/files/uploads2/docs/ssrn-
id2144121.pdf.

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to buy the favor of politicians and protect their clients and operations from the
authorities.13
Aggravating Circumstances
Before addressing the phenomenon of corruption in the public sector or actual
illicit dumping, a background of circumstances that exacerbated the waste crisis must be
examined. The background of the issue begins with demography and population density,
which exacerbated the waste management crisis. Campania averages 699 inhabitants per
square kilometer, whereas the rest of Italy averages only 245.14 And with 2633
inhabitants per square kilometer, the province of Naples has the highest population
density of all Italian provinces.15 Whereas most cities manage waste effectively, Naples
does not follow suit due to land shortage.16 And apparently, according to Pasotti, land in
Campania is in shorter supply than it is in any other area of Italy and has incentivized the
closure of landfills. During the midst of the Naples waste management crisis of 2008,
Campania only had three official landfills. At the beginning of the decade, it had 62!17 It
also appears that few in the public sector had any kind of expertise in waste management.
According to Pasotti, in order to prevent organized crime from infiltrating the waste
management industry, politicians in the region closed landfills in the late 1990s and early
13 Ibid. 7.
14 Eleonora Pasotti, "Sorting through the Trash: The Waste Management Crisis in Southern Italy," South
European Society and Politics, 15, no. 2 (2010): 289-301, 10.1080/13608740903497733.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid. 293.
17 Ibid,

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2000s before alternatives such as recycling and proper incineration were available and
viable.
Political corruption
The relationship between the Camorra and local politicians is a complex one, and
it is not entirely clear how one party affects the other. What comes to mind is the age-old
adage about the chicken and the egg. Does the Camorra flourish because the politicians
are incompetent and corrupt or does the Camorra have more of an influence over politics
and who takes office? A study by Paolo Pinotti revealed upswings in homicide rates
during electoral periods in areas of Italy where the mafia has a larger presence. In fact, he
even found a correlation between periods characterized by more violence and a higher
probability of an official being involved in scandal, as well as a lower level of
educational attainment.18 According to a study by Vincenzo Ruggiero, in the case of
corruption in Italy, he finds that corruption is widespread within the social, economic,
and political spheres and that this attracts criminal groups.
The Link Between Illicit Toxic Waste Dumping and Health Issues
Even to this day, Northern-Central Italy has historically shown higher incidences
of cancer than has Southern Italy.19 This is widely believed to be due to higher numbers
of smokers in the region, a luxury they could afford, given their considerable relative
18 Ibid. 294
19 Kathryn Senior, and Alfredo Mazza, "Italian “Triangle of death” linked to waste crisis," The Lancet
Oncology, 5, no. 9 (2004): 525-527, 10.1016/S1470-2045(04)01561-X.

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wealth. The wealth disparity in the south, historically, has made luxuries like cigarettes
an unaffordable commodity, an unintended ramification of which is the lower incidence
of cancer there in the south as a whole. Advancements in diagnosis and treatment have
lowered these figures, but the same cannot be said about the south. Nonetheless, cancer
rates are increasing in the south and many argue the illicit activities of the Camorra are
largely to blame. Characteristic of any public health crisis, correlational evidence is
relatively abundant, and causal evidence is non-existent. Much like the way doctors and
scientists cannot prove causation between smoking and lung cancer, the correlational
evidence is so overwhelming that, at this point, causation is a forgone conclusion. That is
not to say the body of evidence surrounding cancer incidence and toxic waste dumping in
Campania is as overwhelming, but it significant enough to have been getting attention
from the medical community abroad since at least 2004 when an article was published on
the phenomenon the Lancet Oncology.
The smoking gun in this case, if it can be called that, is found in the data.
Numerous medical professionals and non-governmental organizations have catalogued
data. According to Comba et al., cancer mortality and incidence of congential
malformations for residents of the provinces of Caserta and Naples is “significantly
raised”, compared to the entire region of Campania which contains the two.20 A study by
Belli et al., took a look at this phenomenon through the lens of spatial distribution,
examining incidences in areas in which the practice of unlawful toxic waste dumping has
taken place. Their findings were remarkable in the correspondence of spatial distribution
20 Pietro Comba , Fabrizio Bianchi, Lucia Fazzo , Lucia Martina, Massimo Menegozzo, Fabrizio Minichilli,
Francesco Mitis, and Loredona Musmeci, "Cancer Mortality in an Area of Campania (Italy) Characterized
by Multiple Toxic Dumping Sites,"Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1076 (2006): 449-471,
10.1196/annals.1371.067.

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of disease incidence with areas historically characterized by more frequent dumping.21
The waste crisis in Campania is not simple one; rather it distinguished by a variety of
factors from a variety of sectors. I posit the public health and environmental crisis is a
result of an inherently flawed political climate and an ineffectual public sector.
Methodology
The Naples Waste Management crisis and the variables that exacerbated it can be
compared to a disease and the resulting symptoms. Therefore, I plan to use a case study
approach in my methodology to explore the interplay between Camorra, public
administration, and ensuing corrupt relations. This method involves an in depth study of a
particular phenomenon within a broader context, is one of multiple used by the social
sciences. Although these topics often overlap, for the purpose of this paper I must use an
case study approach, as they fall within sociological, economical, and anthropological
fields, at the very least. This method will be particularly useful in this context as it is
necessary to examine the exacerbating factors, such as, corruption, organized crime, etc.
to understand how the crisis got to the point at which we see it today. I intend to answer
the question ‘how’ and ‘why’ in my thesis, so the case study method represents the best
method to do that. That is all before I mention the data collected by a variety of different
scientific studies regarding the elevated levels of cancers and congenital abnormalities in
the Campania region, more specifically the area pejoratively referred to as the “triangle of
death”. The purpose of this approach is to demonstrate the interplay between political
21 Stefano Belli, Fabrizio Bianchi, Pietro Comba, Lucia Fazzo, Lucia Martina, Marco Martuzzi, Fabrizio
Minichilli, Francesco Mitis, Renato Pizzuti, and Michele Santoro, "Cluster Analysis of Mortality and
Malformations in the Provinces of Naples and Caserta (Campania Region)," Ann Ist Super Sanitá , 44, no.
1 (2008): 99-111, http://www.iss.it/publ/anna/2008/1/44199.pdf.

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corruption and organized crime in southern Italy and how the two phenomena
precipitated the waste management crisis in Campania and created an environmental and
public health emergency.
I will focus on the public health and environmental crisis that ensued from illicit
dealings between Camorra, public officials, and industrialists as this method allows for
understanding of phenomena pertaining to activities of organized crime. It is essential to
examine the interplay between organized crime and the entities with which it conducts
business, how the affect each other, and the public, as organized crime in Italy constitutes
a significant percentage of gross domestic product.22 The Camorra is not the only
syndicate of organized crime in Italy, or even southern, Italy, but for the purposes of this
research, focus will be kept primarily on Camorra, and the region in which it is largely
concentrated, Campania. Because of the extent to which organized crime permeates
business, public administration, and public life, I will address that issue and demonstrate
how they affect the particular phenomena of waste management and the “triangle of
death”. My research will focus on this particular phenomenon as it relates to Camorra
activities, hopefully shedding light on factors involved on all sides, and the implications
it has for those in the Italy government, trying to curb organized crime’s influence and
activities.
In order to conduct this study I will employ two main sources of information:
journal articles and newspaper articles (from both English and Italian language sources).
In order to understand the complex interplay between Camorra and other entities and the
waste management crisis, I examined articles covering a wide range of academic fields,
including the scientific and medical, historical, sociological, and economic. Scientific and
22 Keifer, 2007.

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medical journal articles pertain to the public health and environmental crises in
Campania. Other articles cover issues like historical narratives of the illicit toxic waste
dumping industry and the interplay between Camorra and the public sector. The issues
facing analysis of these sources comes from the very nature of Camorra and its activities,
because, they are in their very nature, illicit. Articles detailing the interplay between
Camorra and other sectors of society present an especially difficult challenge to analysis.
Medical and scientific articles are less worrisome, as they focus on raw data that can be
collected directly from sources. Although, that is not to say they do not present an issue,
as different articles produce different data over the period during which the public health
crisis in Campania came to the attention of scholars outside Italy.
Using the case study itself presents its own benefits and drawbacks as a
hypothesis can be debunked or fail to meet the standards required to be ‘proven’. In this
particular instance it is my view that the purpose of this case study is not to create a
hypothesis, but to provide credence to the theory that the interplay between Camorra and
other entities is largely responsible for the health crisis in Campania. Shedding light, not
only on the environmental and health crises going on in Campania, but about the subtle
intricacies of the relationship between Camorra and other sectors, is what I hope to
achieve in this research. As mentioned, the crisis currently facing residents of the densely
populated Campania region is a symptom of much broader disease. By understanding that
disease we can better understand about how the Camorra interacts with other agents and,
in turn, add to the body of knowledge relied upon by those who try to curb influence and
activity of organized crime.

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Literature Review
The Camorra is an Italian mafia-type, organized crime syndicate that originated in
the Campania region and Naples. The Camorra differs from the Sicilian Cosa Nostra in
that it is structured more horizontally that vertically, or pyramid-like. Camorra clans
operate independent of one another, similar to the way terrorist cells operate, as a matter
of fact. This research is centered on not only this particular Italian organized crime
syndicate, but on one particular aspect of its business, waste management. I could more
accurately refer to it as waste mismanagement, but the point is the same. Additionally,
illegal dumping of toxic waste by the Camorra is widely believed to contribute to an
array of malignancies as a result. Environmental degradation is also widespread as a
result.
Ever since the conclusion of the Second World War, the Italian bureaucracy and
political system has been marred by cronyism, nepotism, incompetence, and apathy.
Official Italian public services are notorious for keeping people in purgatory for months,
or even years on end, with endless paperwork or just downright ineptitude. The Italian
government is also known to pay its civil servants and politicians very modestly,
providing disincentive to work hard, while at the same time, providing incentive to earn
extra through quasi-legal or illegal means. My goal has been to examine the phenomenon
of the Neapolitan Camorra, how it has come to thrive in modern Italian society, and
consequently, how these two phenomena are a perfect storm of factors to create the
Neapolitan garbage crisis and the “Triangle of Death”. The Camorra is widely believed to
have an extensive network of local politicians “on the take”. Far less established is the

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connection between the toxic waste dumping and the higher incidence if cancers in the
immediate area.
Incidence of Cancer
One of my sources is a paper that was published in the British medical journal,
The Lancet. The report, “Italian “Triangle of death” linked to waste crisis”, states that it is
easily determined the effects of the waste management industry on the environment and
human health when regulations are being followed, but not when they are being blatantly
violated, so they set out to discover the difference.23 The “Triangle of Death” refers to an
area east of Naples whose points stretch from the towns of Nola, Marigliano, and
Acerra.24 It sought to understand the environmental conditions in Italy and how much
pollution the average Italian citizen might be exposed to. After gathering data on cancer
rates in Italy as a whole, it undertook the task of gathering data on cancer rates for the
region of Campania, an area east of Naples, closer to the triangle, and within the triangle
itself. The data were unequivocal in demonstrating the closer in proximity one gets to the
triangle, the higher the incidence of cancer. Interestingly, the rates of cancer had been
higher in Northern Italy, however, as a result of better care, the rates are now moving in
the opposite direction, with incidence in the south rising (when this report was published
in 2004).25
23 Kathryn Senior, and Alfredo Mazza, "Italian “Triangle of death” linked to waste crisis," The Lancet
Oncology, 5, no. 9 (2004): 525-527, 10.1016/S1470-2045(04)01561-X.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.

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What this article in the Lancet Oncology does is establish a clear connection with
actual verifiable data. It is precise and well documented, but that is the extent of the
paper. It does not go any further and establish connections between the incidence of
cancer and social phenomena. It is a medical journal, so, it was not necessarily meant to
do that. What this article represents is the clear and unambiguous proof of higher rates of
cancer in and around the area of Campania, known as the “Triangle of Death”. Causal
links still have to be proven.
While concrete causal links between the illicit dumping and higher incidence of
cancer cannot be demonstrated, the data are rather shocking, and, therefore, worth
discussion. A study by Martuzzi et al, found higher rates of cancer and associated
mortality for various types of cancers.26 A study by Belli et al discovered the same
phenomenon and specifically corresponds to the part of the Campania region where a
majority of illegal toxic waste dumping has occurred.27
History and Narrative of the Waste Crisis
Researchers do not seek to establish a link between the incidence of cancer in and
around the Triangle of Death because it would be impossible to prove. Eleonora Passotti
provides the in depth background in Italian waste management. One must first understand
the Italian waste management crisis and the circumstances that aggravated the problem.
This paper is complementary to most of the other scholarly sources cited in the
26 Martuzzi, M., F. Mitis, F. Bianchi, F. Minichilli, P. Comba, and L. Fazzo. "Cancer Mortality and
Congenital Anomalies in a region of Italy with Intense Environmental Pressure Due to
Waste."Occupational and Environmental Medicine.no.11 (2009): 725-732. 10.1136/oem.2008.044115.
27 Stefano Belli, Fabrizio Bianchi, Pietro Comba, Lucia Fazzo, Lucia Martina, Marco Martuzzi, Fabrizio
Minichilli, Francesco Mitis, Renato Pizzuti, and Michele Santoro, "Cluster Analysis of Mortality and
Malformations in the Provinces of Naples and Caserta (Campania Region)," Ann Ist Super Sanitá , 44, no.
1 (2008): 99-111, http://www.iss.it/publ/anna/2008/1/44199.pdf.

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bibliography, as it does not seek to provide data on higher incidences of cancer or link
them to the activities of the Camorra. It does provide an excellent background of the
Italian waste management problem. For instance, southern Italy seems to have poorer
facilities for recycling than the north does, as several times more waste is recycled in the
north.28 Additionally, legislation governing waste management does not include criminal
charges. 29 Illegal toxic dumping emerged as a cheaper alternative for those looking to
dispose of their waste and a low risk endeavor for the Camorra.30 Furthermore, collusion
seems to exist between politicians, industrial entrepreneurs, and organized crime.31
The paper goes on to illustrate circumstances, which aggravated the crisis in
Campania. According to Pasotti, a confluence of factors have doomed to failure the waste
management industry and created the circumstances that have caused the Camorra’s
illegal waste dumping business to thrive. Campania was the first southern Italian region
to move to industrial waste management, due in large part to demographic reasons.
Naples has the highest population density of all Italian provinces.32 While waste in cities
tends to be managed in a more environmentally friendly manner, either incineration or
recycling, land shortage has made this more difficult. Evidently, land is in even shorter
supply in the Campania region than it is in the area surrounding Milan and Rome.33 This
has led to closure of landfills and with fewer places to dump legally, the opportunity for
the Camorra grew. The fragmented nature of the Italian government coalition, only
29 Ibid. 294.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid. 295.
32 Ibid.
33 Ibid.

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exacerbated the situation. Inherent of the Italian political system, politicians mostly
sought political gain from the crisis, exacerbating it further.
Pasotti’s article is the strongest background of events surrounding the illicit
dumping of toxic waste by the Camorra that does not include a study of effects on human
health. It is extensive in its scope and provides the necessary insight into social
phenomena that allows us to bridge that with epidemiological data. The history of waste
management in Italy is long, complex, and inextricably tied to political corruption and
ineptitude. When I read this particular paper, it reminds me of the controversial book,
Freakonomics, and the chapter within, dedicated to explaining incentives. Pasotti’s paper
is somewhat an affirmation of the work of Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. They
basically argued that human beings would invariably take advantage of incentive
schemes. If a game is rigged in such a way that it incentivizes cheating or circumventing
rules, people will naturally do so. In this case the game is waste management and Italian
politicians have rigged it through the course of time and the passing of legislation, so that
it incentivizes all sides to look for less costly alternatives to legal avenues. The Italian
political system is fragmented and politicians are not well compensated, so not only does
legislation not incentivize producers of waste to treat it legally, it incentivizes politicians
to be complicit in illegal dumping in order to earn extra money. That was one thing I took
away from Pasotti.
Corruption in Italy
This paper by Vincenzo Ruggiero does not detail the extent to which the Camorra
is responsible for higher incidence of cancer in the Triangle of Death. It is simply a

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comprehensive study of Italian mafia organizations and corruption in Italy. His
observations of the relationship between organized and corrupt exchange and how they
manifest themselves are presented with opinions of “informants”. I chose this article in
particular because it is unique in that it offers opinions based on encounters with figures
involved in or affected by the relationship between the Camorra, the Italian government
and the Italian populace. His analysis is based on the following information, listed below,
verbatim.
“a)
judicial documents, namely documents produced by courts on proven cases leading to
guilty verdicts and consequent penal sentences;
b)
journalist sources discussing proven cases or ongoing investigations and judicial activity;
c)
academic work discussing the above or analysing general issues around the causes and
persistence of both corruption and organised crime;
d)
interviews with five key informants.”34
The first hand accounts that were the basis for the paper’s main thesis are what
make it such a worthy source. Ruggiero conducted interviews with three judges,
respectively a long-term mafia investigative judge, an experienced investigative judge
working in the Campania region and a judge sitting on the national Council of
Magistrates, Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura.35 He also spoke to two other key
informants were senior academics based at the University of Palermo and the University
of Turin respectively.36 Interestingly, all of the informants are also known authors, who
34 Vincenzo Ruggiero, "Who Corrupts Whom? A Criminal Eco-system Made in Italy," Crime, Law, and
Social Change,54, no. 1 (2010): 87-105, 10.1007/s10611-010-9242-9.
35 Ibid. 91.
36 Ibid. 92

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have published extensively in the form of books and articles on the subject matter.37 It is
unclear whether they are also academics. The collection of firsthand and secondhand
accounts is what makes the article so dynamic. Anecdotes provide vivid detail and story
that could not otherwise be obtained in my research up to this point. Interestingly, what
Ruggiero contends is that when looking at the phenomenon of Italian organized crime
and its relationship with other entities, money does not actually trickle down in this
system. In this system, what trickles down is further illegality.38 Corruption appears to be
means to and end in Italy as well. 39
In summary, the three sources selected above represent diversity in my research,
with each piece serving a particular purpose. The article in the Lancet Oncology seeks to
provide a clear and unequivocal connection between illegal toxic waste dumping by the
Camorra in Campania and higher incidences of cancers for those living outside of Naples
and those living within the “Triangle of Death” It is not an exhaustive study or long
article, but it serves make the connection, nonetheless. Eleonora Pasotti seeks to inform
the reader of the background and circumstances surrounding waste management in
Southern Italy. The political climate plays an integral role and she makes those
connections in an exhaustive report of waste management and its history in Italy.
Vincenzo Ruggiero’s study of Italian organized crime and corruption is comprehensive
and details the two phenomena and how they interact and how their exchanges manifest
themselves. It is not a study of waste management and the “Triangle of Death” is not
mentioned. The paper focuses solely on organized crime and corruption and their “joint
modus operandi”.
37 Ibid.
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid. 97.

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Case Study
The inspiration of this paper is the so-called “triangle of death” near the city of
Naples, in the region of Campania, Italy. The term refers to an area comprising the
municipalities of Nola, Marigliano, and Acerra, where a higher incidence of deaths
caused by cancer, exceeds the Italian national average. The rise in cancer-related
mortality is widely believed to be caused – in large part – by pollution from illegal toxic
and non-toxic waste disposal by the Camorra, the Neapolitan organized crime
syndicate.40 Health problems have not been the only manifestations of this crisis; the
environment has been tainted to the point that nothing can be built or developed within
the distressed area, affecting farmers and producers of edible goods throughout the
triangle.41
The so called ‘”triangle of death” in Campania can be thought of as a symptom. It
is a symptom of a series of ailments that plague Italian society in both public and private
sectors. Corruption, and the interplay between those sectors play a large role in creating
an environment in which organized crime can flourish and enterprise and political actors
profit as well, both financially and socially. That, combined with incompetence and
mismanagement within Italian public administration, create a waste crisis the culminated
in trash overflowing in the streets of Naples in 2008.
This crisis is a result of a confluence of factors: the high cost of legal waste
disposal, the ease with which local politicians can be bribed, and the ease by which the
40 Elena Past, “”Trash Is Gold”: Documenting the Ecomafia and Campania's Waste
Crisis,” Interdisciplinary Studiesin Literature and Environment, 20, no. 3 (2013): 597-621,
10.1093/isle/ist075.
41 Yardley, 2014.

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mafia can dump waste and still earn a profit after bribing politicians and receiving
payment from those wishing to see their garbage problem disappear. To this day, no
study has actually sought to provide a direct link between the illegal toxic waste dumping
in the triangle and the higher rates of cancer in the area, although a World Health
Organization report conducted with national and local institutions documented clusters of
cancers in areas known to be dump sites.42 While researching this topic, it became
apparent that there is a clear absence of concrete causal evidence of higher incidences of
cancers with illegal toxic waste dumping, but an abundance of evidence, which correlates
the two.
The health and environmental crises in Campania were further exemplified by the
Naples garbage crisis of 2008, during which garbage was overflowing in the streets. It
was not being collected because there was simply no place for the garbage to go. Ergo,
this waste management issue seems to be multi-faceted. The garbage dumps in Campania
had been filled by garbage from the North and Italy’s other regions.43 Combined with the
refusal of municipal workers to collect trash, it began to pile up in the streets of Naples in
December of 2007.44 The Naples waste management crisis of 2008 is not an isolated
incident; rather, it is symptomatic of a broader epidemic. It is clear the Camorra had an
inextricable role in the crisis; however, this crisis is the culmination of a system doomed
to failure. I do not want to give the impression that the Camorra is the sole reason that
this crisis exists. Rather what we see today is the culmination of multiple problems and
now will examine what they are. On the back of this issue are things like demographic
42 Yardley, 2014.
43 De Simone, 2012.
44 Greyl et al. May 2010.

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change, socio-political factors, economic factors, scientific and technological factors,
cultural factors, and institutional frameworks. The Camorra is, to me, in this particular
case, a catalyst. It has been made abundantly clear what effect the crisis has had on
human health and environmental stability. Now let us examine the background issues that
turned this crisis into what it is today.
The Links Between Organized Crime and Corruption
In a massive article for the Center for the Study of Democracy, are a collection of
studies linking the illicit enterprises of organized crime and political corruption
throughout Europe. For the purposes of this paper, one particular annex will be reviewed-
the case study of Italy. Authored by Vincenzo Ruggiero, whose work features a
prominent place in this research paper, the case study of Italy provides a detailed analysis
of the interplay between the organized crime and political corruption. He also separately
examines each particular entity involved in the complex relationship.
Italy is a society in which corruption, even today is not met with very heavy
punishment. In fact, corruption has become so pervasive, there has developed almost a
tolerance for it. It makes public management very problematic because when the
government wants to inject money into a certain sector, one that will require
subcontracting, it is likely the funds will eventually trickle down into the hands of
organized crime, thereby increasing the level of corruption. A massive judicial
investigation into political corruption during the 1990s, ‘mani pulite’, or, ‘clean hands’,
revealed Italian oil producing companies used there influence in parliament to achieve the

Baumel 22
passage of a laws that were flagrantly favorable to their financial interests.45 Corruption
has been so pervasive in the Italian judicial and legislative system, politicians who are
convicted of corrupt practices often find themselves receiving lighter sentences, pursuant
to laws they enacted in the first place.
Ruggiero’s study reveals a rather fascinating piece of information about the
relationship between organized crime and corruption in Italy. He finds that organized
crime does not necessarily have to even have a role in any particular corrupt practice,
rather, it demonstrates the dissemination of mafia practices or a “mafia method”
throughout the sectors of business and politics. He notes that within a paradigm of
corrupt exchange, corruption spreads from the elite downward and tolerance of it
becomes more pronounced.46
Cases in which organized crime and entrepreneurs engage in corrupt exchange
occur frequently in certain sectors. Public works and construction sectors are particularly
vulnerable wherein very little administrative oversight is placed on projects being
undertaken. This dynamic is what culminated in trash overflowing in the streets of Naples
in 2008 as trash collection had ceased. A sector heavily plagued by corrupt exchange
with Camorra, administrative incompetence and influence by this very powerful
organization led to a standstill, during which dumps were filled to capacity. Public
contracts play an important role in corrupt exchange, as even if a Camorra controlled firm
does not win a contract, it may eventually be subcontracted to one later on, anyway. 47
45 Ibid. 162.
46 Ibid. 163.
47 Ibid. 167.

Baumel 23
Public works contracts are particularly attractive to Camorra because public
finances represent a very large portion of the available assets in the region.48 Secondly,
private entrepreneurship (i.e. construction and waste management) is sufficiently
developed. Finally, investigating corrupt exchange in the private sector requires
significant resources from the state that make it difficult to carry out, let alone prosecute.
Waste Crisis and Politics
Even as a problem became clear, effective solutions were not quickly
implemented due to political obstacles, owing largely to the high degree of corruption
and cronyism within the Italian bureaucracy.49 Interestingly, indicative of the Italian
political climate were the series of events, which transpired in an attempt to deal with the
crisis. The center-left coalition government at the time only took steps, which
parliamentary members calculated would benefit their efforts to get reelected, according
to Pasotti. The Camorra, which was already active in toxic waste trade, emerged as an
sensible alternative to incompetent public officials. In an attempt to mitigate the problem,
far-right regional president Antonio Rastrelli authorized a plan, which did not include
recycling or public sector waste management. Not surprisingly, the conservative Rastrelli
gave the garbage contract to Impregilo, the largest civil engineering firm in the country.50
The next regional president, Antonio Bassolino, was certainly not immune from problems
48 Ibid.
50 Ibid.

Baumel 24
concerning waste management, either, as he has faced several charges since 2007. 51 One
of the most respected politicians in the country, he has been accused of a variety of
crimes related to toxic waste dumping, including the misuse of public funds, perjury, and
fraud.52
Responses and Reactions in Campania
The crisis in Campania has been called a severe case of environmental injustice.
According to the Italian environmental organization, Legambiente, 15.6% of Italian
criminality is environmental. And in most cases, like Campania, the crimes are not
isolated incidents, but part of a broader injustice that affects the environment, and, in
turn, those who have some kind of communion with it. Despite all efforts to mitigate the
problem, it still exists, and those affected are still suffering. Any small amount of money
those in need may receive, pales in comparison to what one could argue they actually
need. Any attempt to give garbage contracts to non municipal entities usually just means
the Camorra will underbid and get the rights - so to speak – to handle garbage for
someone who just wants the cheaper deal anyway. Masking the symptoms is not the same
as treating the causes. It is why assigning the military to patrol Campania to prevent
illegal dumping, probably will not solve the problem.
Camorra did not cause the crisis in Campania all by itself, nor did an particular
entity of the government. Rather mismanagement led to a situation in which it became
profitable to exploit a problem. A problem occurred in December 1999 when landfills
51 Ibid. 302
52 Ibid.

Baumel 25
reached their full capacity and no way to treat or recycle waste. Emergency measures
were implemented to expand new landfills. However, poor design doomed this plan.53 All
the while a crisis worsened through mismanagement, Camorra was filling their pockets
dumping and burning waste illicitly.
The waste crisis in Campania has not been met without fierce backlash by the
public. The reaction by the public to a variety of different actions has been most
interesting. The crisis has spawned a variety of responses at the grassroots level, which
has included local activism and social networks.54 The backlash from the public in
Campania to the higher incidence of cancer brings into question where to a government
task force would even begin to address a crisis of this magnitude as the public does not
make it any easier to create a solution.
According to D’Alisa et al, the different strategies and narratives employed by
different groups highlights the complexity of the issue and the wide variety of claims that
those affected want mitigated. Even when local government takes action and plans to
open a new landfill, the public opposition is often fierce.55 With outdated technology, it is
an Italian example of the term, NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), a pejorative
characterization of opposition to development near residential or protected areas.
Interestingly, I have found that even when the government takes action to open landfills
to deal with the crisis of infrastructure to handle the volume of garbage, opposition by
local residents becomes as much an obstacle as government gridlock played in
53 Giacomo D'Alisa , David Burgalassi, Healy Hali, and Mariana Walter, “Conflict in Campania: Waste
Emergency or Crisis of Democracy," Ecological Economics,70, no. 2 (2010): 239-249,
http://kg6ek7cq2b.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=G&aulast=D'Alisa&atitle=Conflict in
Campania: Waste emergency or crisis of
democracy&id=doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.06.021&title=Ecological
economics&volume=70&issue=2&date=2010&spage=239&issn=0921-8009.
54 Ibid.
55 Greyl et al. 2010.

Baumel 26
aggravating it. Further worsening the issue for years over the last decade, was the
incompetence of the Italian government in contracting a company to handle the region’s
waste. Lack of transparency further damaged the government’s abilities in the eyes of the
region’s inhabitants. 56
Most recently, the Italian government issued several decrees, which have been
met with mixed reactions. The following list is an excerpt from D’Alisa et al in Conflict
in Campania: Waste Emergency or Crisis of Democracy:
(i) delegated resolution of waste problems to an Undersecretary of the State
under the Presidency of the Cabinet;
(ii) labeled the location of all waste management facilities sites of “strategic State
interest” so that any citizen obstructing State activity risked imprisonment;
(iii) rendered environmental impact assessments non-obligatory;
(iv) allowed FIBE (a consortium of Italian and German enterprises) to continue
managing waste in Campania, despite ongoing investigations into its
activities;
(v) opened ten landﬁlls, which were already existing dumpsites of all sorts of
waste; and
(vi) authorized construction of four incinerators and ten landﬁlls.57
The waste management crisis in Campania got to the point that the region of
Campania existed under a formal state of emergency from 1994 to 2008.58 It would be
impossible to quantify or even qualify the damage done because doing so would require
looking at the damage on so many levels and it is extremely difficult (if even possible) to
put a value on lives and livelihoods. To actually affect change, Italy would need judicial
57 Giacomo D'Alisa , David Burgalassi, Healy Hali, and Mariana Walter, “Conflict in Campania: Waste
Emergency or Crisis of Democracy," Ecological Economics,70, no. 2 (2010): 239-249,
http://kg6ek7cq2b.scholar.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=G&aulast=D'Alisa&atitle=Conflict in
Campania: Waste emergency or crisis of

Baumel 27
improvements, better police control (assuming they are not “on the take”) of the region,
and harsher punishment.
Over the years, the National Government and Commissioners have taken a rather
authoritarian stance, imposing decrees, restriction, and solutions that have not only been
ineffective, but also put citizens of Campania at risk. Naturally the government does not
wish to appear weak and fails to administer effective solutions, as that would admit a
serious problem in the first place.
Conclusion
Multiple studies leave little doubt that the link between higher incidence of
cancers and congenital malformations in Campania is real. As Senior et al. illustrate in
the Lancet article the coined the term ‘triangle of death’, incidence of cancer can even be
seen increasing in districts with higher concentrations of illicit toxic waste dumping and
burning when compared to the whole of the Campania region. Health crises have not
been the only casualty, as much of the environment remains tainted from the effects of
toxic waste dumping and the burning of that refuse. Efforts by politicians to mitigate the
problem have failed and ruined many of their careers as they were sucked into the vortex
of corruption and mismanagement.
Southern Italy has always been significantly poorer than Northern Italy, and such
a condition often plays a role in higher incidences of crime. In this case organized crime
is the issue that is so problematic for an the region, and, ultimately, most of Southern
Italy as a whole. The lack of public funds makes getting involved with organized crime

Baumel 28
by public officials so easy. When people of Campania develop malignancies and suffer
birth defects, the health care they need is unaffordable and almost non-existent. The
socioeconomic status that differentiates southern Italy from the north is not only a causal
factor of the waste management and health crises, but also serves to exacerbate any
problems they may have a hand in causing.
Illicit toxic waste dumping has prompted the Italian government to send its army
troops to an area north of Naples. As much as this seems an appropriate reaction to what
has become a health and environmental crisis, the local authorities must participate and
gain better control of the region. The grip organized crime has on their motivations and
thus, their operations, hampers an attempt made to cleanse any area of the public sector
of Camorra influence. They also need to support those who defy the Camorra at
significant personal risk. Undoubtedly, one way to combat the incentive to dispose of
waste illegally would be to build more landfills, as they have been at capacity for some
time. However, civilian resistance to building new landfills has been significant, as no
one wants a garbage dump near their home. But, as Peluso recommends, the Camorra
ought to be fought through development of infrastructure. Several regional presidents
attempted to fix the problem through infrastructure development, but civilian resistance
has gotten in the way of those efforts, as no citizen wants a waste treatment facility
anywhere near their home.

Baumel 29
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